Millions of Star Wars fans have been given their first taster of the new film as trailers were unveiled online, a year ahead of the next instalment of the sci-fi saga.

Fans of the films will be reassured to see familiar favourites such as Han Solo's spaceship the Millennium Falcon, X-Wing Fighters and even a lightsabre - this time with side-blades.

The news that footage of Star War Episode VII: The Force Awakens would be released was accidentally posted on Twitter earlier yesterday. A trailer was also screened in US cinemas.

In the first trailer, the camera pans across a desert landscape as a voiceover declares: "There has been an awakening - have you felt it?" Then actor John Boyega - a Star Wars newcomer - is seen dressed as a Stormtrooper breathless and panicked. The voiceover later continues "the dark side - and the light", in a reference to the good and evil sides of The Force.

It also contains scenes of the Millennium Falcon in a battle with Tie Fighters and a battalion of Stormtroopers being armed, while a hooded and cloaked figure is seen with the lightsabre. It concludes with the traditional Star Wars theme composed by John Williams.

In another trailer which emerged online, the voiceover says: "The Emperor has foreseen a new threat rising against him - the children of The Force. They must not become Jedi. This is my master's command." Another voice responds: "And so it will be done."

It also features figures jumping into a jungle sink-hole, Chewbacca roaring and it concludes with Han Solo - played by Harrison Ford, who was injured during filming, saying: "You're never ready - you know when you're ready enough."